Last Monday Atlético Madrid unveiled their plans to build a new stadium in the east of Madrid. The stadium will have a capacity of 67,500 seats, about 12,000 more than fit in the current Estadio Vicente Calderón.

Atlético had been looking for a move from the Vicente Calderón for several years, as the Calderón lacks the possibilities for expansion being closed in between a river, motorway, and residential buildings. Furthermore a new stadium will count with more modern facilities and improved access to the stadium.

The stadium will be built at the site of the current Estadio La Peineta, which is currently mainly used for Athletics events. If Madrid gets awarded either the 2020 or 2024 Olympic Games the stadium will serve as the main venue for the games.

Though fans feared that this would mean the inclusion of athletics tracks, or at least extra space for later addition, they were reassured at the presentation as the conversion would involve the construction of an 8 metre high wall at the edge of the pitch, filling up part of the stands with soil and building the tracks on top of them. Naturally this would mean a reduction of the capacity to about 60,000, and would also mean the Atlético won’t be able to play their home matches at the stadium for about a year.

Demolition of (parts of) the Estadio el Peineta has already started. The current timetable expects the stadium to be completed in 2015 in time for the start of the 2015/2016 season. The costs of the project are estimated to be €200 million, which will be financed by the development of the land on where the Vicente Calderón currently stands.